Guest Post starring Rebecca from What's Rebecca Reading?

Part of my desire in creating AusReading Month was to build up a community of Australian bloggers who like to blog about books - all kinds of books, but with their heart firmly in Australia!

I've asked a handful of bloggers that I've got to know via their reviews to do a guest post during November.

The first guest post goes to Rebecca at What's Rebecca Reading?

I first discovered Rebecca a year or so ago over at 366 Books: My Year of Reading, when she was in the middle of her self-imposed "to read and comment on 366 books in 2012" project!

I was in the middle of a major junior fiction/teen reading slump - which was a problem - as I am in charge of the kids section at the Indie bookshop I work in. 
Reading Rebecca's blog though gave me an insight into a whole stack of kids books I would never have ventured into and allowed me to talk knowledgeably about them at work!

I was hoping when I asked Rebecca to write a guest post highlighting her 5 favourite Australian books that they would be kids books...she didn't disappoint.

Without any further ado, here's Rebecca....

"As my reading (at least for this blog) focuses on children's and teen fiction, I am choosing my favourite 5 classic Australian novels for this age group.  It was a hard decision, with so many greats to choose from, but here they are :


Ash Road by Ivan Southall (first published 1966)
Bizarre as it may seem up until a few months ago, this Australian classic was only available from the USA. It's now been re-printed, so there's no excuse not to read it.

Tomorrow when the War Began (first published 1993)
20 Years old this year, I think that makes it a classic, and the fact that is one of the most popular books for young teens, I think it deserves a place here.
  Taronga by Victor Kelleher (first published 1986)
This one is a bit of a sleeper, I hope that with a new edition out, everyone gets their hands on this book.  It just shows that dystopian teenage fiction has been around for years!

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (first published 1980)
Ruth Park is Australian fiction royalty, so no list could be without her. Fiction which features time travel and time slip are extremely popular today, so a visit to 1873 Sydney is bound to fascinate readers of today.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (first published 1967)
Brona has already mentioned this one, but I am happy to include it too.  It is a creepy classic that is guaranteed to give you chills.

I will be re-reading each of these novels during November, and will see how they stand up to children's and teenage fiction of today, so make sure you come back to visit."

Thank you Rebecca for diving straight into AusReading month.
Don't forget to pop over to check out Rebecca's blog when you get a chance.

Trivia Question: In rhyming slang, if someone said they were going to have a "bo-peep", what would they be doing?